Bohdan Yaremenko: Belarusian authorities are under Kremlin's dictation

Kiev should finally realize that the Lukashenka regime is one of the main threats to Ukraine.

Bohdan Yaremenko, Ukraine's diplomat and Chairperson of the Board of Maidan of Foreign Affairs Foundation, said this to charter97.org when commenting on an attempt of the Belarusian delegation to the UN to disrupt the vote on a resolution to recognize the Russian occupation of Crimea.

- What is your opinion on the actions of the Belarusian delegation at a time when Lukashenka is repeatedly assuring of the friendship with Ukraine?

– This attempt should convince even the most stubborn supporters of Lukashenka in the Ukrainian government that the official Minsk is not a friend of Ukraine, but an ally and follower of the Russian Federation. I specify – the official authorities, but not the people of Belarus and Ukraine.

The Belarusian authorities carry out the defense policy, security policy and foreign policy in a coordinated manner and under the dictation of Russia.

As for this case, Belarus wasn't defending its interests – it openly defended the interests of other state to the detriment of the Belarusian-Ukrainian relations.

Quite clearly the Belarusian authorities to have put their relations with the Kremlin above friendship and normal cooperation with Ukraine. If after all this the Ukrainian government doesn't realize that the Lukashenka regime is a threat to our country, this government no will never understand anything.

– Irina Gerashenko, a representative of Ukraine at the negotiations in Minsk, called the actions of the Belarusian delegation to the UN a "knife stab in the back". Should we expect the same reaction from the official Kyiv?

– Honestly speaking, it was a revelation to me that Irina Gerashenko had commented on the issue in such a way, I have heard some of her other statements as well.